In general, a washing machine is an apparatus that treats laundry through the processes of washing, rinsing and drying to remove contaminants from the laundry such as clothes and bedclothes using washing water such as water containing dissolved detergent or clean water.
The washing machine may include a casing provided with a laundry introduction inlet and forming an external appearance of the washing machine, a washing tub disposed in the casing, a driving mechanism to rotate the washing tub, and a lid functioning as a door to open and close the laundry introduction inlet.
A lid locker to lock the lid or release locking of the lid may be installed at the casing. The lid locker may include a locking member to be engaged with the lid to practically lock the lid and a locking member driving mechanism to operate the locking member.
Meanwhile, the washing machine may include a reed switch to sense opening or closing of the lid. The reed switch is a type of proximity switch. When a magnet approaches the reed switch, the two reeds of the switch contact each other. When the magnet is moved away from the switch, the two reeds are elastically returned and thus separated from each other. The reed switch may be installed together with the locking member and locking member driving mechanism to configure the lid locker.